Over two months ago, the Seton Hall men’s basketball team had given UConn their second loss of the season, a devastating 75-60 defeat at the Prudential Center. The Huskies not only surrendered the game but also lost a major piece of their lineup with Donovan Clingan. At that point in the season, the future was unknown as to how the program would rebound from such a devastating negative.
Fast forward to March 3, Connecticut will have the chance to avenge that matchup in front of their home crowd at Gampel Pavilion at noon.
Naturally, both teams have progressed drastically since that very game. While UConn has accumulated just one loss since then, in their battle with Creighton at the Chi Health Center, Seton Hall sits at 18-10 on the season, good for fourth in the Big East conference. They’ve certainly had massive highs, such as wins over the Huskies and a home win over Marquette, and some hard-fought losses like their triple-overtime defeat against Creighton in New Jersey. Considering that this is a team that has been known to give Connecticut some difficulties on both sides of the court, this is a super important matchup for the No. 1 team in the conference, especially when you consider the festivities that are set to occur on Sunday.
With the last home game of the season, the program is set to honor their upperclassmen on senior day and with such a talented group about to depart from Storrs, it’s certainly looking like this version of the event will be special. Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra will all be apart of that stacked group. Notably, it should be very emotional for coach Dan Hurley, when his son Andrew is set to be honored.
On top of all of the senior day festivities, it’s looking like this will be the final home game for Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle and, potentially, Alex Karaban, barring the redshirt sophomore’s decision to enter the upcoming NBA Draft. Regardless of the outcome of the Southborough native’s choice, something he’ll be looking at following the season, it’s certainly slated to be an emotional day for all involved.
With all that being said, the No. 3 team in the nation is certainly going to look to take care of business against the Pirates. Weapons like Kadary Richmond are still as effective as ever, averaging 18.5 points over the last four contests. Dre Davis and Al-Amir Dawes remain as important scoring options that need to be kept in checked.
One of the biggest things for the Huskies remains having Clingan back on the court. As mentioned prior, the Bristol native was absent for most of the second half in the last matchup between these two teams, exiting with 16:33 to go in the game. With the impact that Connecticut’s man in the middle is able to provide on both ends of the court, he’ll look to be a huge part of Sunday’s result.
Most importantly though, UConn has to play their brand of basketball, especially on the offensive end. This is a team that shot just 37.9% from the field and a mere 19% from the three-point line on Dec. 20. Simply put, Hurley will have a tall task on his hands to defeat coach Shaheen Holloway and the Pirates. However, if they’re able to get the job done, that sets a great tone for a loaded second half of the season that includes away matchups at both Marquette and Providence, plus the illustrious Big East Tournament.
To view this important matchup, it will be televised on CBS Sports Network, with both Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery set to be on the call.